In a strong criticism of the European Central Bank’s latest research, prominent analyst Tuur Demeester labeled the ECB’s new letter as a “veritable declaration of war” against Bitcoin. The ECB paper, titled “The Distributional Effects of Bitcoin,” written by Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf, has sparked a fiery response from the BTC community.
The ECB paper challenges the fundamentals of Bitcoin by arguing that its appreciation does not contribute to the productive capacity of the economy. Instead, this paper posits that the continued increase in the value of BTC leads to redistributive effects, where the consumption and wealth accumulation of early owners may dispossess incumbents and latecomers.
The authors assert, “When the price of Bitcoin rises positively, the presence of Bitcoin discourages non-owners and latecomers,” stressing that this effect is natural even without bad trading timing or holding strategies.
The Coming War Against Bitcoin?
Tuur Demeester, a long-time BTC analyst and board member at the Texas Bitcoin Foundation, has been at the forefront of this criticism, portraying the ECB’s publication as a “veritable declaration of war” against Bitcoin. With X, he expresses his deep concern about the ECB’s situation. “This new paper is a real declaration of war: the ECB says that early adopters of Bitcoin are stealing economic value from latecomers. I firmly believe that the authorities will use this luddite argument to impose heavy taxes or bans,” said Demeester.
He also elaborates on his concerns, stressing the potential for stricter regulatory measures aimed at preventing the growth and adoption of BTC. “Rather than praising Bitcoin as a tech paradigm shift to petroleum and the Internet, the authors present the obvious argument that ‘early adopters’ … ‘increase their real wealth and consumption’ … ‘at the expense of [latecomers]’,” he adds.
Demeester did not hold back in his criticism of the ECB’s motives and the implications of their findings. “Then they continue to defiantly advocate for legislation … to ‘prevent Bitcoin prices from rising or see Bitcoin disappear altogether’ to prevent ‘social disintegration’.” He criticizes the ECB for what he sees as an aggressive and unwarranted approach to regulating BTC, saying such measures are indicative of a wider agenda to undermine the established financial system.
“In all the years I’ve been monitoring the Bitcoin space, this is the most aggressive paper from the authorities. The gloves are off. It is clear that these central bank economists now see Bitcoin as an existential threat, which can be attacked in any way,” warned Demeester.
Expanding on his concerns, Demeester warns of possible long-term consequences of the ECB’s stance. “Many of us have warned this was coming: Bitcoin as a political fault line in national and international elections. Well here it is. It means we HODLs must take action to ensure governments respect our basic right to own property.”
He presents this situation not only as a regulatory challenge but as a fundamental conflict of ideas. “And no, this is not going to be a war between the poor and the have-nots. Rather, this will be a historic conflict between those who advocate the natural rights of the individual, and those who cling to the failed ideals of integration and central planning.”
Marc van der Chijs, a Dutch global investor, echoes Demeester’s concerns, highlighting a series of regulatory measures across Europe that are increasingly hostile to investors. “Europe seems to be preparing for a war with Bitcoiners: high BTC profits in Italy, the proposed exit tax in the Netherlands, no loans in the UK if you finance your real estate with crypto (personal experience!), and now the ECB is telling taxpayers that Bitcoiners are keeping them poor,” van der Chijs noted.
He criticizes the ECB’s treatment of start-ups, saying their success is the result of strategic investment and risk-taking rather than any malicious intent to undermine others. “The last one is really unbelievable: the first adopters were smarter (or spent more time on it) and willing to take more risks. Now they are insulted for that. It is very dangerous that these are words from the ECB, it sounds like a Communist Central Bank to me,” he adds.
Van der Chijs is also worried about the change in the regulatory environment, noting that if the price of BTC continues to rise significantly, there may be a tightening of punitive measures against investors. “The Overton window is changing rapidly against Bitcoiners (and rich people in general). I heard from a few people in the Netherlands who hold Bitcoin that they are a little worried about the changing regulations. If Bitcoin should double or triple by 2025 I would not be surprised to see many politicians turning to BTC and trying to overtax it Get ready!” he warns.
In response to the ECB’s controversial publication, Dennis Porter, CEO and founder of the Satoshi Act Fund, announced plans to mount a full-scale protest. At the beginning, Porter said, “The Anti-Bitcoin ECB paper will soon be hit with full academic opposition. It’s a new paper coming in. If you’d like to contribute, let me know. Or tag those you think we should talk to.”
Demonstrating swift action, Porter later confirmed, “My team has begun to prepare a formal response to the ECB paper. We will have a draft done today or tomorrow at the latest. If you want to contribute, please get in touch. We plan to move as quickly as possible,” and further updated, “ECB draft rebuttal completed – many co-authors have now started contributing – open call for contributors available 24 hours.”
At press time, BTC traded at $69,005.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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